So, here's a little peek at the bullshit I've been up to the last couple days:
It's Advent of Code time, which is a series of programming puzzles that Some Guy puts out every December. I've been back on a TIS-100 kick lately, so I decided to see if I could solve the first day in there.
For those unfamiliar, TIS-100 is a programming game. It is not intended as a general-purpose language or environment, it is itself a series of programming puzzles that you have to solve with an incredibly esoteric and limited environment. It's a bespoke assembly language (which is the least human-friendly class of languages*) where you can only use numbers from -999 to 999, the only math operations you have are add and subtract, you have very limited memory, and doing anything complex requires coordinating message-passing between 12 independent "nodes" that are running their own tiny programs, and are only connected to up to four neighbors.
It's an absurd thing to use when trying to solve a problem designed with general-purpose languages in mind, but, when has that ever stopped me?
Anyway, after much shenanigans, I solved both parts of Day 1, entirely in unmodified TIS-100. It did require some preprocessing of the input and summing of partial outputs, since the game only lets you can only run 39 numbers through the system at a time, and the input for the puzzle was over 4000 lines long, but all the actual logic happened in the game. The Part 2 took 20 minutes to run its 2.6 million in-game cycles. Or 200,000, depending on how you look at it. More on that in a minute.
I put all the code up on my Advent of Code repo on GitLab, and I'll go through some of the more interest details of how I managed to get there under the cut.
Getting the Input In
TIS-100 is of course a game, and not intended as a general programming environment. There are emulators that are more general-purpose, but for the challenge, I wanted to stay as close to stock as I could.
The key is that it does let you write your own specifications (puzzles) with arbitrary input and expected output, so there was a way in. It doesn't make the output from the runs programmatically available in any way, but...well, we'll get there.
First, to get all 4000-plus inputs into the 39-slot input buffer, I first had to break them into bite-sized chunks. The specs are Lua scripts, but seemed pretty sandboxed, so I couldn't just read the file in there. Instead, I wrote a python wrapper script that did the chunking, then edited the specification on disk to inject each chunk as a Lua variable. After a run, TIS-100 updates the save file with some stats, so the python script watches the save file for modifications, and when a run finished and updated the save file, it injects the next chunk.
TIS-100 does notice when a specification is edited on disk and reloads it, so with the above that made it possible to run the program, go back to the specification list which triggers reloading the spec with the new input chunk that had been injected in the background, and then go back to the program and run it with the new input.
Getting the Output Out
The remaining problem was that the chunks were not independent - there was a bit of state (a single integer from 0-99) that needed to be preserved from one run to the next. The game is about outputting values, but as mentioned above, there's no way to access those values from outside the game short of screen-scraping, which felt a little against the spirit of things. Was there another way??
I soon realized that there is a sidechannel: that save file that I was watching to trigger the next input injection has, among the stats, the number of cycles taken by the most recent run of a spec. Inspired by things like timing attacks, I wondered: could I manipulate the number of cycles the run took in order to smuggle data out?
It was a very small bit of data: just the one number from 0-99, plus a partial count to be summed at the end, somewhere around 50-100 per chunk. That could easily be encoded into a 4-5 digit number, and my runs were already taking a few thousand cycles...
...the answer, reader, is of course you can! Allow me to introduce you to...
The Cycle Smuggler
this is the funnest part imo
Using just two of my precious twelve nodes, I implemented a system that idles for a set number of cycles, long enough for the rest of the program to process the most complex input chunk.
After the base idle, it takes in the output, (a 3-digit integer `m`) and idles for `100*m` loops, then takes in the state (a 2-digit integer `n`), idles for `n` loops, and immediately terminates.
The result of all of this is that given the base idle cycles, you can extract a 5-digit number `mmmnn` by taking the number of cycles that the program ran and calculating `(cycles - base_count)/3`, where 3 is how many cycles each loop takes - it could be 2, but I left it at 3 for debugging reasons. That number will be something like 12355, which is a count of 123 and a state value of 55.
So that's exactly what my script did: when the save file updated, it extracted the number of cycles taken, extracted the output and state, injected the state back into the input for the next run, and then at the end summed together all the output values to get the final answer.
Actually Running the Thing
After all that nonsense, as well as, you know, writing the actual TIS-100 program (which used 8 more nodes and a total of 119 instructions), I also added mouse emulation to my python script to automate starting each program.
In the end, I started the python wrapper, switched over to TIS-100, loaded the spec, and hit "run" - after that, the python script took over, sending clicks to initiate the next 183 runs, extracting all the partial counts from the cycle counts in the save file after each.
After 20 minutes or so, the script had chunked up all the input, logged its progress, and added up all the counts to get the answer, that I could - finally - put into AoC and cross my fingers.
As happens with AoC, I originally misread the instructions for Part One and actually started implementing what ended up being the solution to Part Two. So I left that node there but unused, and once I retooled it for the simpler version, I ran it with the sample input, then three sample inputs concatenated to test the multi-chunk setup. That all went well so I ran the full input and much to my delight and surprise, got the right answer on the first go!
Part Two was, of course, more hairy - I did have the head start but still had much message-passing to figure. I ended up with one logic bug, and one bug in how I handled the state being passed forward, and a third bug in my chunking up of the input where I tried to give it too many values (and thus dropped some). I first guessed too high, then too low, so I had narrowed the range to about 500, but of course that doesn't help much.
The last bug was the most annoying - I eventually threw some basic checksum-ish checks in the wrapper script, which revealed the dropped inputs, which was then easy enough to fix.
Another fun detail: while TIS-100's integer range of -999 to 999 was a perfect match for the puzzle data, TIS-100's _inputs_ are limited to -99. I ended up encoding e.g. -999 as the pair of (-1, 999), and then reconstruct the original number in situ.
A Footnote on Cycles
Also, the cycle smuggler was originally designed to idle for `n` repeats of a known base count, so that it wouldn't impose a minimum runtime penalty on the main program. But to be able to extract the values, the base count has to be higher than the maximum output value. In my case that was theoretically over 100,000, although in my input it was an actual maximum of 7700.
And thus, since the actual program took comfortably less than 7700 cycles, it was easier to just make it a constant base. I have been scheming ways to make a variable base work, but there's not really a reason to at this point.
So while it took 2.6 million cycles to get the result, that's a bit of a misnomer - most of that time is just idling for very specific amounts of time to smuggle values out. I don't know what the actual runtime was, but base cycle count (and thus maximum runtime) was 3810 cycles, so 184 runs of that would be about 700,000 cycles.
It does look like I got my base time close: running some inputs without the cycle smuggler, it looks like it takes on average about 1100 cycles, with ~3000 cycles max, so it was probably more like 200,000 cycles of actual processing time.
* Programming languages vary a lot, but generally they fall on a spectrum from "easy for a computer to read" to "easy for a human to read" - the human-friendly ("high-level") languages abstract away more of the complexity of what's going on under the hood, and thus the computer has to do more to translate them into commands it can actually execute. The computer-friendly ("low-level") ones represent more directly what's going on under the hood, so the computer has to do less work to translate, with the tradeoff of being much harder to read and write for humans. Assembly is essentially the lowest-level language that humans can interact with, and requires knowing a lot about exactly what the processor is doing underneath all those layers.
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Whoa, what is this? Will I get this done on time, or is this doomed to be released unfinished when it's automatically posted on the 31st? Only you will know!
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker [PC]
Endwalker is probably the best possible expansion a game could hope for. Shadowbringers had just managed the herculean task of unifying like 7 years of content and plot that seemed mostly disparate and succeeded fantastically, so it was really cool to Endwalker take the core concepts that were introduced in ShB and run with them in a way that made the game "End" in such a satisfying way. Story had me on my toes the whole time rewarded players who had tried all sorts of side content, and even made me like characters I strongly disliked through the whole game prior.
Sage and Reaper are pretty cool too. I'd highly recommend giving FFXIV a try if you haven't, and of course if you've been away from the game and haven't played Endwalker it's definitely a masterpiece in its own right.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus [Switch]
This one was really surprising. After having come from BDSP, probably the worst games in the entire main Pokemon series, I didn't have high hopes they'd pull this one through. What ended up happening though is that, while still having its bugs and graphics problems, Gamefreak is definitely capable of making a cohesive game with fun mechanics and feels good to play. Battle isn't that complex, but given how slow and obnoxious normal Pokemon battle is the lack of abilities and new styles are a fresh change of pace.
Movement outside of battles feels good, if a little janky. What really sets it apart is how fun it is to actually sneak up on Pokemon and use pokeballs and food outside of combat to catch them, and adds an extra level of play that supplements the simplified but interesting battle style well.
One thing I can say about this game: it feels like a complete experience. I'm not missing out on the ability to get certain pokemon becase there's another version. I'm incentivized to play with all sorts of pokemon with all sorts of playstyles to fill out the pokedex. Exploring could leads to new items and rarer Alpha pokemon. Quests allow you to keep goals, and the battle challenges are at least interesting. That's something that no other Pokemon game has been able to offer since they stopped doing the 3rd, "best version" of the games like Emerald and Platinum. I highly recommend this game, and believe it's the best Pokemon offering Switch has (including SV)
Super Mario Run [Android]
This one was interesting to go back to. So I picked this up because MyNintendo finally started doing okay physical rewards, and this game is a very good weekly source of Platinum coins. In the process, I went ahead and 100%'d this game. It's pretty fun! It's got a lot of challenges, the toad rush and remix run are fun stwists on the existing levels. It's a shame Nintendo saw the millions they made from this as a failure and went with Gacha models instead.
While it's not as satisfying as your normal Mario platformer, it's definitely a fun mobile game and worth the $10, especially with weekly platinum coin challenges
TIS-100 [Steam]
I will be 100%, I have not played this game very long. I really like these kinds of games, however for the past few years I've fallen into a place where every time I think of playing these, I get caught up in "Well, what I really should be doing is coding for real." Then I go on Reddit or Twitter and do neither.
The short time I did have with it was fun though! I'm not sure I would call it a good intro to programming since it's mimicking assembly instructions, but if you're curious it's definitely an interesting experience and pretty similar to how how that sort of language works.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land [Switch]
This is probably the most faithful recreation of a 2D Kirby game into a 3D platformer that you can get, and boy it was a long time coming. The games fun, albeit pretty easy, and has a lot of post-game more challenging content (that is also not too challenging). That's not to take away from it of course; Kirby's a fun, relaxing game usually and this is no exception. Even though this is more a Super Mario 3D World than a Super Mario Odyssey, the transition to 3D is handled very well, and I'm eager to try more Kirby games in this style. It could do with a little more content, but then it runs the risk of overstaying its welcome. I highly recommend this to anybody who's ever enjoyed a Kirby game; It's not groundbreaking, but it does the Kirby formula well
Lost Nova [Steam]
This is one of a few games I've played where I don't really have a solid enough opinion of it to really recommend it or not. I got like an hour in and really liked the vibes it was giving off (cute top down exploration game, very wholesome) but got distracted and never picked it up again. I'm a big fan of the artist, Jon Nielson, and his other game projects that I've played, but this is one I'll have to restart and get a good grip on.
Dusk [Steam]
I grew up on a multitude of games, and Doom/Quake were right there. It was nice to be able to revisit that style of gameplay, and Dusk certainly nails the aesthetic and feel of it, but I think the levels themselves leave something to be desired. A lot of the time I was running around in open spaces between buildings that were packed with enemies and items, and that felt a lot less Quakey to me. Still, that much is a personal preference and I didn't end up taking this one too far, but for retro fast FPS fans this seems like a very solid choice!
Going Under [Steam]
This was another in the string of Rogue-lite's I played. I was pretty surprised because I wasn't expecting this kind of gameplay when I first got it, but this is another that I didn't spend too much time with. From a strictly personal level, I've become really tired of corporate culture and HR speak. While this is parodying that, it still struck a nerve that was difficult to get into because the kinds of things I've dealt with were just too similar to the joking happening here.
Visually it's very fun and I do love the style. Gameplay wise, it seems like it would take a bit to get used to the controls and how the mechanics with weapons interplay with combat and different enemies. It definitely has its charm and is a labor of love, but I myself couldn't revisit it.
Bugsnax [Steam]
This one was one I'd been wanting to play for quite some time. A friend described it to me as Pokemon Snap but with puzzle elements and a mystery story, and I was down for it. That's pretty accurate, and the whole game is very charming. Without giving spoilers, I was very invested despite a lot of the characters at least seeming very 1-dimensional at first, but each one actually gets fleshed out into something more real and interesting the more you look into them. My only gripe is the physics on some of these things made it very annoying to catch certain bugsnax that required precise timing. For example, there's be a flying bug above an aggressive bug, and you had to knock down the flying bug into the trap, trigger the trap, and collect it before the angry bug noticed any of it and knocked you and it over. That being said, there aren't many instances like that and it seems like the kind of game where there's an easy solution to catching them all.
Another pretty high recommendation for those interested in a fun story experience and some collectathon elements
Rogue Legacy 2 [Steam]
So I was a big fan of Rogue Legacy when it first came out and 100% it. When I picked up this one however, nearly a decade after the original released, I had a lot more experience with rogue-likes and what I wanted out of them. This game is definitely the Rogue Legacy experience, however for some reason I found myself way more easily frustrated with it than I did with other Rogue-Lite's I've played recently. Something about how immensely the stat boosts and things outside the castle affect how you play within it just doesn't feel as good as learning the game better and just playing better, or unlocking alternatives instead of just straight upgrades. That and there's like 4 gear-like systems outside of the main game, which just seemed overly complex.
All-in-all, if you liked the original Rogue Legacy you'll probably like this one since it's a lot more of the same with additional things to grind, but for me personally there are better Rogue Lite experiences out there
Dead Estate [Steam]
Look, no- Look see I- Wait, listen. Hold up, no. Stop. I know what you're thinking, and yes I absolutely clicked on this game initially because of the thumbnail. We're moving on.
Barring that, the game is crazy fun! 2 Characters to start with going into 8, 4 of whom have entirely unique playstyles and 8 different floors to go through. Loads of secrets, challenging but not repressively so, and a very charming and funny but with an interesting story with plot twists galore, Dead Estate is probably one of the best Rogue-lite's I've played in a while. My only gripe is that they could do with a bit more content (which they are launching out as well so I will revisit it!) and that the 2.5 D Isometric angle sometimes messes with enemy placement relative to the character, but all in all I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun rogue-lite to scratch that itch! Especially now that they're updating it, though expect to take a little bit to get used to the 2D isometric jank.
Kirby's Dream Buffet [Switch Download-Only]
I got this one near launch thinking "Hey, this will be a fun time! Kirby spin-offs are typically loaded with content and fun things to unlock, so this should be at least a few days worth to keep me entertained!"
Not so.
Not sure if it's been updated since release, however when I played your only real option was to go online and play the normal game, which is just kind of okay. The racing is a bit of a crapshoot; it's really easy for one player to pull ahead of the pack and have the Mario-Kart issue where everyone behind them is fighting to get close to them, and the ending area is really the one that matters. The final battle minigame is also a bit hectic but not really deep as well. None of it is particularly satisfying, and it's something I would've expected to be a side multiplayer mini-game in a mainline Kirby game instead of its own release. Unless this gets an update that lets you play for free, this one's a pass and not worth the money.
Dr. Mario Rx [Switch Online: N64]
I revisited this one since I never 100% it as a kid and unlocked the final 2 characters, and figured with the save state system I could at least make it so I didn't game over. Boy, do I get why I never beat it!
This game's charm, which future Dr. Mario games will routinely miss out on, is that there's a very simple plot and weird Wario Land 3 characters scattered throughout. Sure, it's not exciting, but having another player character to go against is fun, and seeing Wario and all his wacky enemies react to a puzzle game is just delightful. Of course, the game is RIDICULOUSLY HARD and you can only unlock the final 2 characters by completing both story paths on hard WITHOUT DYING. I'm convinced this is impossible, making the NSO version of this the best possible version for allowing people like me to finally get their closure of a complete character select screen. Dr. Mario Rx is probably the best Dr. Mario experience you can get, and while I wouldn't say get NSO for it or any of the N64 library, it's definitely a highlight of the library if you have access. It's difficulty can be incredibly frustrating though, and this is a game I would encourage using the save state function if only to restart levels after a loss.
Disney Dreamlight Valley [Switch]
This one's funny because my sister actually played this for a month while I watched and was nearby, so while I don't have direct experience I do have enough to give a recommendation on it.
It's pretty clear this was an attempt by Disney to appeal to the exact market of Gen Z/ Millennials that have nostalgia for their childhood and were struck hard by the pandemic. Basically, it obviously saw Animal Crossing's runaway success and thought "Oh shit, that's a market!" It shows, pretty hard.
As far as gameplay goes, it doesn't seem bad. You run a Valley with a bunch of Disney characters around. You farm, fish, and do favors for these characters while trying top build up friendships and solve mysteries of what happened to the island. On paper it's a good idea at least In practice? Well.
The game is incredibly buggy. Like I can't believe Nintendo let them put this up for sale levels of buggy. I understand that it's in "Early Access", but looking at this through my Sister's eyes, who has no concept of a game which was sold for money being a buggy alpha version, this is an incredibly poor show. The music stutters, quests would easily be stuck in an un-completable state because of bad logic, characters interact poorly, timed music did not lined up with the mechanics, and the game would frequently come to a standstill and crash. When she wasn't actively fighting it, she was engaging in what was your basic skinner box with villagers asking her to find, fish, or craft (crafting animation matches AC's almost 1-to-1) , and while there's definitely something there, the whole time I was watching I just felt like this was a really cynical cash grab. I would avoid this, especially the Switch Version, like the plague until they've removed it from "Early Access" and their monetization scheme gets finalized
Splatoon 3 [Switch]
I am still coming to terms with the fact that no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I research, and no matter how many times I delve into it, I will never be good enough at most competitive games that I like to be able to play online in a way where I'm not bogged down by my own disappointment with my abilities and frustration at the game.
It is a good thing then that the Single player and Salmon Run in this game are so much fun! While I can't say those themselves are worth your $60, I can say that I had a great time with it while I did play, and really enjoy the setting and world they've built with the series. While it doesn't break much ground in comparison to the previous game, it's definitely worth a go if you've enjoyed the first 2 entries.
Kirby and the Crystal Shards [Switch Online: N64]
This is probably my 7th time revisiting this game. As a kid, this game felt very challenging and I never 100% it. As an Adult, I realize it's more arguing with the floaty controls and knowing the really hard to find 3 crystal locations, and then just paying attention to where you can get the power ups you need. It's definitely not the best or most content heavy Kirby outing, but it's definitely worth a play for the cute character interactions and fun of mixing and matching power-ups. The experience is worth like $5 at most these days, but for sure give it a go if you've got access to it for free.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope GOLD EDITION [Switch]
This now being a spinoff franchise is really cool because it's wacky and out there, but still very fun to play. Gameplay wise it's not too much different from the original. The grid is gone and replaced with normal movement, which has some downsides but is overwhelming a positive change. The more open level nature is also welcome, and the humor is still pretty good.
The biggest issue with the game for me is something that not everyone will take issue with, but it very much kind of misses the tone. It feels like a rabbids game with 5 Mario characters in it instead of a Mario spinoff. The environments, plots, and characters are all Rabbids and loopy fantasy mix, and none of it at all to do with the title characters until the very end. The first game combined Mario, Rabbids, and toysets into the environment which all gelled really well together, but without the Mario aspects it really just feels like they made a game without the Mario characters and then threw them in as an afterthought.
It's still a wonderful game and I highly recommend it! Just don't go into it expecting a pre-sticker-star Mario RPG level of world building and storycrafting
Banjo-Kazooie [Switch Online: N64]
Another 3D collectathon classic I revisited and 100% this year. I still strongly hold that Tooie is the better game. Unfortunately it's not currently available on Switch for reasons that are unclear, and the Xbox releases of these games are definitely still the superior way to play with their widescreen, controls, and frame rate improvements. With all that said, this is pretty much the best 3D platformer experience you can get from that time that's aged well enough to recommend, so whether you're like me or are just able to try this for the first time, it's definitely worth the go.
Sonic Frontiers [Steam]
A Sonic lore fan's paradise, and a Sonic gameplay fan's reason to keep holding on. It's hard not to compare this with Pokemon in a lot of ways, if only because Pokemon has similar opportunity to deliver on what fans of the series actually want and has failed bother technically and from a gameplay perspective for several games in a row now (except Arceus, which still could use some work). Frontiers however managed to hit that sweet spot where the gameplay was fun and not in the way of the game, and the story scratched that itch that I've had for Sonic games since SA2.
Gameplay has some series staple Sonic jank, but the action stages are really fun, the boss fights are hype af, and it's just fun to run around in the overworld again. That last point is something that the series hasn't really nailed since dashing around station square in Sonic adventure, and maybe a bit in the 360 versions of Unleashed.
Is it perfect? No, but it's right where I wanted it to be with my expectations on what an experienced developer should be able to do, with some great high points to counteract the low. I do recommend this game for any fans of any of the 3D Sonic games. A word of warning though: the PC version is best. Even though it still has pop-in issues, the framerate and visuals are most consistent on that version and the rest of the ports are just taking bits away.
Nier:Automata [Steam]
This one I'm still playing; apparently getting the first real ending isn't actually enough to experience the full game. I'm halfway to the second now, and I think I understand that.
Game's fun! I feel like I'm missing out on a lot as I go though, which always makes me anxious. I do really like the themes of the game so far and the character interactions, even if some of them are incredibly anime. I don't have a really solid opinion yet, but dumping this many hours into it and then wanting to continue is definitely a good sign.
Pokemon Violet [Switch]
So this kinda bites. For the first time in a long time Pokemon actually managed to nail movement and interesting play mechanics in Arceus, and just threw most of that right out. This game is a buggy mess that a developer with Pokemon's resources and Nintendo's reputation has absolutely no right to release in this state.
Additionally, the story is great! Sure some of the characters are a bit one note, but the ones they did flesh out are really cool, and their character designs are memorable and fun. Mechanically though this game smells; terrastrallizing is very basic and the once a battle mechanic is overdone at this point. Battle animations are somehow worse and the game's pacing is hot garbage. Due to the lack of level scaling, a feature that is canon and has been done by hobbyists for over a decade now, the "challenge in any order" brag is functionally meaningless. Battle is still painfully slow, the game looks ugly which is only exacerbated by the anti-aliasing and texture tiling issues. For the first time in a very long time, there is no post-game battle challenge, which means once you beat it and finish the dex, something Arceus made fun and fulfilling, you're left with nothing.
Give this a pass over for Arceus, at least until they finish updating and releasing patches for it.
BEST GAME I PLAYED THIS YEAR
I am disqualifying Endwalker because A) I've been playing FFXIV for years now so it's not really new, and B) it would win
So, that leaves an actually very tough decision. I'm actually struggling to pick one, because on the one hand I had a great time with a lot of these but on the other some of those are absolutely carried by their IP. While Arceus is a huge leap forward in terms of actually making a great Pokemon experience, it still has some major issues in terms of visuals, general buginess, weird design decisions, and plot/character interactions still feeling very stiff and uninteresting a lot of the time.
Sonic Frontiers is also up there, but again it's because I've waited so long for a Sonic Plot that took itself way too seriously combined with 3D Sonic Gameplay that was actually fun. Gameplay wise there were a lot of great action stages, but also some rough ones, and exploring the islands was fun but could get tedious, felt a bit futile in terms of how broken fishing is, and janky due to pop-in.
Nier Automata was also really fun, but I haven't really hit a point far enough where it feels like I've truly experienced the world and story despite finishing the first ending. Mario + Rabbids was really good too, but it felt a bit more hollow than I would've liked. I also had a rough year mentally, so it's a bit hard to contextualize each of these in ways that would be expressible in text.
I'm of course overthinking it, because I do have a pick, but it was surprisingly difficult. However, this game single handedly took the most time, consistently surprised and impressed me, and offered a fun challenge while still allowing me to vibe at my own pace.
I am, of course, talking about:
Mario's Super Picross [Switch Online: Super Famicom]
What a fucking SUPRISE this one was. I have a very short tolerance for playing games in other languages, but this one was very easy to figure out after just the first couple puzzles. I love picross, I'm a sucker for Mario, and this one is jam fuckin packed with so many levels. It just keeps on giving for days and days which turned into months and months of chilling on the couch, petting the cat, listening to podcasts, and chiseling out a picture of a tiger that could only possibly be considered one after you finished the whole puzzle and they added color and animated it. Have you played the best puzzle game on this Switch yet?
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I dont usually make fan art, but i do like tinkering around with programming...so i made this. This is the videogame TIS-100 (NOT A DRAWING PROGRAM) and it has a sandbox mode where you can write data to a graphics console. this window started completely empty, no code, no picture. i then wrote the code and spent 20 min entering 0′s 1′s 2′s 3′s and 4′s on the numpad to make it draw this image.
i like to imagine this is what going on inside 9 and this is just a snapshot inside her image processing unit. like the camera is sending color data in the terminal and this section of programming is processing it and converting it into an image....and of course 9 signed it.
nostalgebraist replied to your chat zachtronics: are the latter 2 games actually fun to play? when i’ve read about them, they sounded conceptually cool, but something felt wrong about the idea of paying money to buy a “actual difficult work you would do for a living simulator”
oh i can actually go on and on about this.
short answer: tis-100 yes, shenzen 1/0 not so much.
is like extreme sports, mountain climbing, weight lifting, cross fit, you are exerting yourself with a taxing job for not much else beyond bragging rights (and good health, and by that token you could say that puzzle games are good to excersize your mind).
but i mean, you feel cool, you lifted those 100 pounds all by yourself, you’re awesome! is just the same as you coded some mindblowing spagetti code with nothing but 7 instructions and one memory cell, youre a fucking genius!
there’s a whole debate in the world of game design as to what constitutes a game? i mean, you nailed it with the “actual difficult work you would do for a living simulator”, that is very much an actual genre of games out there (truck simulator, farming simulator, etc) and whats alluring about it i guess is that once you take out the “doing it for a living” part, you can just enjoy the experience without worrying too much about fucking up and getting fired. but yes, there is that whole debate of how far can you push the rules and learning curve of a game before it stops being fun, in my opinion TIS-100 pushes it just far enough, shenzen pushes it too far.
but there is also another level of enjoyment out of zachtronics. the sort of narrative that i presented in the chat was very much the experience that i had discovering their games, and whilst shenzen 1/0 might have not been my cup of tea, it was still fun to be duped into trying it. looking at yourself and realizing the meta game of how far can you get before you realize you are just doing actual work. and TIS-100 is a microcosm of that.
what i love about TIS-100 is that it does the whole “this is a real document” thing that things like blair witch do, wherein it keeps the pretense all throughout. it never gives you like a typical “main menu” or “save game” screen, it completly sells the fantasy that you are some guy who found this old program and is investigating what are the secrets hidden within it as well as unraveling the story of the last guy who came across the thing.
at risk of sounding fan-wanky, TIS-100 is very similar to the northern caves, IF the northern caves came along with the actual book and the actual works of W.C. as accompanying material and you pieced the story by reading the annotations in the margins made by previous owners of the books. TIS-100 is not so much job simulator as it is lovecraft protagonist simulator, by way of 70′s computer engineering. because you are actually there, translating the necronomicon, not just reading the account of someone else who did it for you, you are actually following every step down the rabbit hole, but you are too busy solving puzzles to worry or care. its very much a videogame in that regard.
bottom line, if you like programming, not just as something that pays the bills but as an actual hobby, if you like those fully tactile game experiences where you have to read accompanying material, keep notes and draw diagrams to follow the game, or if you just like problem solving and dont mind reading a 14 page long manual about a fictional microprocessor language then this game is for you.
now the reason why i dont like shenzen 1/0 as much is that the manual that you have to read is a lot longer, is a lot more complex that just a 7 instructions long programming language, the game it self is a lot less streamlined and its simulation of you going to work for a company is so detailed and faithful that you might as well just be actually working, so yeah, they actually go too far there. i could have seen myself enjoying it if the learning curve was a lot slower like in spacechem. but no, they just dump you right in the middle of it and is all too overwhelming.
so there you go. hope this helps, and let me know what you think of the games if you happen to try them!
